


Death in the Family

by Breemarie12256



Series: Carmen Sandiego Being a Parental Figure [1]
Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:21:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22022494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Breemarie12256/pseuds/Breemarie12256
Summary: Player is out of contact with the crew for a week, so Carmen goes to check up on him in Ontario.
Series: Carmen Sandiego Being a Parental Figure [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1585132
Comments: 2
Kudos: 162





	Death in the Family

Player has been acting strange lately. 

Carmen was worried about him. He hasn't been answering her texts or phone calls, he wasn't at least checking in on her during capers, he wasn't hacking, he wasn't doing anything he normally does!  
Which is why Carmen decides to book a flight to Ontario and to check on her hacker. In person. 

A few days later, Carmen races through the streets of Niagara Falls on her motorcycle. Feeling the wind blow through her hair as she sped off to where she last tracked him—a cafe. Why would Player be at a cafe? And that doesn't explain why he hasn't been in touch with her.  
Carmen sighed, taking her helmet off. 

'You better be alright, Player.' She thought. 'Or else I'll make you be alright.' 

Carmen got off her motorcycle and walked up to the entrance. The bell rang as she walked through the doorway.  
She scanned the area. Looking for a familiar face. And she found him. She found her hacker. He was sitting in the very corner of the cafe. On his laptop and with a coffee or hot chocolate or whatever he drinks here beside him. And he didn't seem to notice the woman in a red motorcycle suit looking at him. 

Carmen took a deep breath, and exhaled. This was it.  
She walked toward the young boy, who was still not paying attention to her. She smiled down at him. 

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Carmen teased, sitting across from Player. Who seemed shaken at the sound of her voice. He looked around to see who in the cafe it came from. Before slowly craning his head to the sight in front of him. He gasped in shock and fear, leaning back in his chair. 

"Red? But-But you're not-" 

"Not what, kid?" 

"You're not supposed to be here!" Player whispered, not wanting to cause a scene. Carmen frowned at him.  
"What did you expect me to do? You've been out of contact for a week! You had me worried sick, Player!" Carmen whispered back, looking around to spot any locals eavesdropping on them. 

"I-I'm sorry, Red. I've been..On edge lately." Player said, looking down to not meet Carmen's eyes.  
Carmen's stern, lavender eyes softened. She reached out and took Player's left hand in hers. "Do you feel like talking about it?" 

Player froze. Should he talk about it? How would Carmen react? Would she hate him after showing weakness? Player asked himself so many questions that he didn't know that he was having trouble breathing.  
"Player? Player!?" Carmen yelled, running over to his side. Player continued to struggle, now clutching onto his neck like he was trying to escape a strangler. 

"Hey, hey, calm down, kid. It's alright. No one's hurting you." Carmen soothed, pulling the younger (much younger) boy close to her.  
Carmen stayed with him until his breathing evened out. But as Carmen pulled away, Player felt a new warm feeling in his chest. 

There was something about Carmen that seemed familiar. But not familiar at the same time. The way she hugged him, cared for him, reminded him of....A mother. A mother caring for her crying child.  
"Feeling better?" She asked, gently rubbing his shoulder. In case he needed a little extra comfort. He nodded. 

"Yeah, Red, thanks.." Player said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.  
"No problema!" Carmen said in Spanish. Making Player chuckle a little bit. Sometimes when Carmen speaks in different languages it's kind of funny. (One time she yelled at Zack and Ivy in Italian and they had no fucking clue what she was saying. And they thought she had been drinking alcohol). 

Carmen's smile faded from her face in an instant. Her expression was serious. But the good serious.  
"Now, why did you not contact me for a week and leave me worried sick?" Carmen asked, taking a seat next to Player. The hacker sighed, knowing he can't get out of this. 

"Sorry if I worried you, Red, I..I've been dealing with some issues lately." Player said, keeping out the part of his mom almost hitting him with a wine bottle which was originally aimed at his father.  
There was a death in the family a week ago. It was his Uncle Richard on his father's side. He and his Uncle Richard were close. Whenever Richard came to visit, he would take Player to lunch and they would stuff their faces until they could barely move. And once they got home, his mother would scold Richard for letting him eat too much. 

But when Richard died, things began going downhill in the family. His mother began drinking more, his father spent more time on working, and he sat in his room. Crying himself to sleep every night and ignoring Carmen's calls and texts. Not thinking she would care and would want him to focus on missions more than his stupid personal life. Even if that seems unlikely of Carmen. 

Carmen frowned at Player's answer. "What kind of issues?" She asked, her voice kind but also stern. It made Player's heart ache. He was screaming at himself mentally to just tell her what was going on. To finally get the burden lifted off his shoulders.  
Player gulped. When Carmen wants to know something, she won't stop pushing until she knows what's wrong. He couldn't blame her. She was just trying to take care of everyone. 

Player's breath caught up in his throat. Not able to get a word out. He looked down, not wanting to meet Carmen's stormy lavender eyes looming down at him.  
"Come on, kid, tell me. I won't judge you." Carmen said, her voice was not stern this time. It was the opposite. She sounded so...Warm. Then, Player finally gave in. 

He told her everything. How he lost his Uncle Richard, how his parents had been fighting, how he's been unhealthily coping, how he thought she would be mad at him if she found out he was coping from a death in the family. And Player's confession resulted in Carmen pulling him into a hug. Letting him latch onto her as he cried into her shoulder. 

"Oh, no Player." She whispered. "I would've understood if you just talked to me about it." 

Carmen hugged Player tighter. And his cries turned to whimpers. And his whimpering turned into muffled sniffles. 

'Good.' She thought. 'He's calming down.' 

"C-Carmen?" 

"Yes, Player?" 

Player sniffled. Burying his head deeper into her shoulder. "Thank you. For this, I mean." 

Player couldn't see it, but Carmen was smiling softly at him. "Anytime, kiddo."


End file.
